


Missed Opportunities

by Jena Bartley (jenab)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenab/pseuds/Jena%20Bartley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was both their lives that stopped them from taking things to the next level. </p><p>Written for Love Bingo for the prompt moving on</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missed Opportunities

When Pepper opened the door, she looked as tired as Phil felt. 

He held up the bag of take out food from a near by restaurant both of them enjoyed. Pepper smiled warmly, stepping aside to let him into her apartment. Phil brushed his lips over her cheek as he entered, inhaling the delightful scent of her perfume.

They ended up in their usual spots on the couch, passing the cartons of food back and forth. Pepper had taken off her shoes, curling her legs under her. Her hair was down, giving her face a softer, more open look. It warmed him that only a few people got to see the legendary Pepper Potts looking so relaxed in her own home. 

He reached out to brush her hair back, enjoying the way she leaned into his touch, her eyes soft as she gazed back at him. She kissed his palm before handing him the box of sweet and sour pork. 

They deliberately avoided talking about their respective work and anything that had to do with Tony Stark. When they finished, he helped Pepper gather up the debris of their late night supper. She left everything in the take out bags. 

Phil toed off his shoes, as Pepper leaned against him, stretching out her legs on the couch. He curled an arm around her waist, holding her close to him. 

For a long time they were quiet, watching the New York night stretched out before them from the apartment window. 

“I’m heading back to California at the end of the week with Tony.” Pepper said quietly. 

“I heard.” Phil replied. 

He didn’t need to say anything more. Pepper turned her head to smile wistfully at him. 

With Stark no longer considered a viable candidate for the Avenger Initiative, there was nothing to keep him in New York. California was his home base, giving Stark plenty of space away from the Stark Industries board, which both sides liked. 

Phil had grown to care for Pepper, admiring the cool level head she brought to temper Stark’s maniac genius and how she managed to corral him over the years. She’d created a reputation as not only the best person in place to wrangle Tony but also a wall between him and the rest of the world. If she didn’t want you to see Tony, you wouldn’t get access to him. Something Phil has experience first hand. 

He’d enjoyed the times they’d managed to get together in the midst of their chaotic schedules. It was both their lives that stopped them from taking things to the next level. With Pepper going back out to Malibu, it only added another barrier between them. 

He could the same realization in Pepper’s eyes when she turned in his arms. Another life, another job and they would be perfect for each other. Instead they’d shared some wonderful stolen moments together. 

Phil brushed his fingers over her cheek. Pepper raised herself up to kiss him softly. He tangled his fingers in her hair, letting one kiss flow into another. 

Pepper pulled back, getting to her feet. She held out her hand to him. 

Phil took it, rising from the couch as she led him into her bedroom. 

Their lovemaking was slow as Phil took his time undressing Pepper, using his lips and mouth to map every inch of her creamy skin as he exposed it. Pepper matched his pace, pressing soft kisses to his throat and chest as she undid his shirt. 

Once naked, they tumbled onto the bed, moving against each other. Pepper wrapped her long legs around him, as he sank into her. Still new in some ways but familiar in the way Pepper moved against him, her soft cries growing louder as she came. 

Phil kissed her, still moving inside her. Pepper sighed, her hands wandering down his back as she started to match his pace again. When she came a second time, Phil followed her over the edge. 

Pepper curled up beside him, her head nestled against his shoulder. Phil held her close, drifting off to sleep with the comforting weight of her against him.

In the morning, they dressed, a comfortable silence between them. Pepper walked him to the door. 

Phil kissed her softly before taking one last look at her. 

He left, taking the image of her in her bare feet with her hair down and her mouth curved in a small, intimate smile just for him.


End file.
